In the chronic disease diabetes mellitus (diabetes), the body loses the ability to properly produce or respond to the hormone insulin so that cells of the peripheral tissues fail to actively take up glucose from the blood for use or storage. In the diabetic individual, the level of glucose in the peripheral blood can become elevated (hyperglycaemia) and typically remains so unless some form of intervention is employed (e.g., administration of exogenous insulin) to return glucose in the blood to normal levels. Left unchecked, the hyperglycaemia of diabetic individuals can result in shock, organ degeneration or failure (e.g., kidney failure, blindness, nerve disease, cardiovascular disease), tissue necrosis (e.g., requiring foot amputation), and even death.
Two major forms of diabetes are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which was previously known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile onset diabetes, is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys the insulin-producing β cells (islet cells) of the pancreas resulting in an absolute requirement for daily administration of exogenous insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes usually is diagnosed in children and young adults, but can occur at any age. Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5-10% of diagnosed cases of diabetes.
By far the more prevalent form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes, which was previously known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Type 2 diabetes was also previously known as adult-onset diabetes, however, this form of diabetes is becoming increasingly prevalent in the growing population of overweight and clinically obese children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90-95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes typically begins with insulin resistance, a disorder in which the body's cells do not respond to insulin properly, followed by a gradual loss on part of the pancreas to produce and secrete insulin. Type 2 diabetes is associated with a variety of factors including older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism, physical inactivity, and various races or ethnicities. Individuals with type 2 diabetes must attempt to control their blood glucose level with careful diet, exercise and weight reduction, and additional medications.
Major factors contributing to the pro-atherogenic state in diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), include dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, visceral obesity and insulin resistance (1,2). Observational studies have clearly demonstrated the importance of diabetic dyslipidemia in contributing to atherogenesis in diabetes, illustrated by the fact that the correlation between low density lipoproteins (LDL) as well as high density lipoproteins (HDL) versus cardiovascular events outweighs that of fasting plasma glucose (3). Statin intervention studies have revealed a clear benefit of statin treatment on reduction of cardiovascular events in DM2 (4, 5); however, in spite of this impressive achievement, the majority of DM2 patients will still suffer from cardiovascular events even when using statins (6).
During the last two decades, endothelial dysfunction has emerged as one of the earliest stages of atherogenesis. Endothelial dysfunction, which is a hallmark in all diabetic patients (ie both type 1 and 2) has been shown to have predictive value for future cardiovascular events (7-9). In line with the multifactorial pathogenesis of diabetes-induced vascular disease (10, 11), numerous therapeutic interventions have been evaluated for their potential to improve endothelial function in DM2 patients (9, 12). Surprisingly, whereas endothelial function could be fully restored by statin therapy in dyslipidemic patients (13), several studies have demonstrated that even intensive statin treatment cannot normalize vascular dysfunction in DM2 (14, 15). The latter emphasizes possibilities for additional therapeutic modalities in this high risk group.
High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) represent a broad group of mostly spheroidal plasma lipoproteins, which exhibit considerable diversity in their size, apolipoprotein (apo) and lipid composition. HDL particles fall into the density range of 1.063-1.21 g/ml (16) and as they are smaller than other lipoproteins, HDLs can penetrate between endothelial cells more readily allowing relatively high concentrations to accumulate in tissue fluids (17). The major apolipoprotein of almost all plasma HDLs is apo A-I, which in association with phospholipids and cholesterol, encloses a core of cholesteryl esters (16). Nascent (i.e. newly synthesised) HDLs secreted by the liver and intestine contain no cholesteryl esters and are discoidal in shape (16). The negative association of plasma HDL concentration with coronary artery disease has been well documented in epidemiological studies (18). Although experiments in animals have demonstrated an anti-atherogenic activity of HDLs (19), it is not yet known whether this protective effect is related to the role of the lipoprotein in reverse cholesterol transport or to a different mechanism. The mechanism/mechanisms via which HDLs provide these cardioprotective actions are not clearly understood, but may include a role for HDLs in reverse transport of cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver, inhibition of the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, or modulation of vasodilatation and platelet activation mediated by changes in the production of prostacyclin (20). HDLs can also activate endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase subsequent to its interaction with scavenger receptor-B1 (SR-B1).
In view of the emerging data on the NO promoting effects of HDL, compounds with HDL-increasing capacity are of particular interest (21-24). Indeed, in DM2 patients HDL is positively associated with endothelium-dependent vasomotor responses (8). In work leading to the present invention, the inventors have evaluated whether and to what extent HDL increase upon infusion of exogenous reconstituted HDL (rHDL) would translate into an improvement of vascular function. ApoA-I levels and endothelial function were assessed both acutely (4 hours after infusion) as well as 7 days after infusion of rHDL in DM2 and matched controls.
Bibliographic details of the publications referred to in this specification are referenced at the end of the description. The reference to any prior art document in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that the document forms part of the common general knowledge.